1
a
: a predicament affording no obvious escape
b
: deadlock
2
: an impassable road or way : cul-de-sac
Synonyms
Examples of impasse in a Sentence
The players are poised to strike after Thursday's games because they believe, with good reason, that if no agreement is reached by the end of the post-season, the owners will declare an impasse …
—
Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits.
—Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone.
—Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988
An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
She had reached an impasse in her career.
Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits.
—Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone.
—Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988
An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
She had reached an impasse in her career.
Recent Examples on the Web
The city broke off negotiations with would-be developer Reven Capital on Thursday, after the two sides reached an impasse on the terms of the deal.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2024
Collaborations hit an impasse as Mars and Saturn align.
—USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2024
Though Israel has routed Hamas in much of Gaza, and fighting seems to have slowed, analysts and diplomats say the war appears to have reached an impasse, with no resolution in sight as humanitarian officials warn of a looming famine.
—Matt Stevens, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
During the previous Congress, House lawmakers including McMorris Rodgers advanced a sprawling privacy bill aimed at breaking the impasse.
—Cristiano Lima-Strong, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
The nurses, who are members of the Registered Nurses Professional Association, embarked on the union’s first-ever strike as negotiations with the county have reached an impasse over wage increases and working conditions.
—Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
The negotiations to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by the militant group in exchange for a ceasefire in the conflict that has seen more than 32,000 Gazans killed had reached an impasse last week.
—Tamar Michaelis, CNN, 31 Mar. 2024
Israel did not provide an immediate response to the White House's readout of the conversation, but on Wednesday, an Israeli official blamed the impasse in the cease-fire talks on the U.S. decision to allow a U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution to pass on March 25.
—Daniel Estrin, NPR, 4 Apr. 2024
But the impasse in Washington over funding for Ukraine, and the potential for change in the White House next year, could give Kyiv some leeway.
—Vasco Cotovio, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024
Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2024
Collaborations hit an impasse as Mars and Saturn align.
—USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2024
Though Israel has routed Hamas in much of Gaza, and fighting seems to have slowed, analysts and diplomats say the war appears to have reached an impasse, with no resolution in sight as humanitarian officials warn of a looming famine.
—Matt Stevens, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
During the previous Congress, House lawmakers including McMorris Rodgers advanced a sprawling privacy bill aimed at breaking the impasse.
—Cristiano Lima-Strong, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
The nurses, who are members of the Registered Nurses Professional Association, embarked on the union’s first-ever strike as negotiations with the county have reached an impasse over wage increases and working conditions.
—Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
The negotiations to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by the militant group in exchange for a ceasefire in the conflict that has seen more than 32,000 Gazans killed had reached an impasse last week.
—Tamar Michaelis, CNN, 31 Mar. 2024
Israel did not provide an immediate response to the White House's readout of the conversation, but on Wednesday, an Israeli official blamed the impasse in the cease-fire talks on the U.S. decision to allow a U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution to pass on March 25.
—Daniel Estrin, NPR, 4 Apr. 2024
But the impasse in Washington over funding for Ukraine, and the potential for change in the White House next year, could give Kyiv some leeway.
—Vasco Cotovio, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'impasse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near impasse
Cite this Entry
“Impasse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impasse. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Legal Definition
impasse
noun
im·passe
ˈim-ˌpas, im-ˈpas 
: a point in especially labor negotiations at which reaching an agreement is impossible because neither party is willing to compromise or change position
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